Our family adventures in a bongo campervan named nevis

glen etive

Weather wise it was a pretty miserable day, snowy, rainy, sleety, windy etc., but we had made our mind up to go so off we went. First stop was Tyndrum, I realised half way up Loch Lomond that we had forgot some deer snacks. A quick swing by The Green Welly Stop soon corrected that and we stocked up with some Rich Tea Biscuits. Sorted, they love them!

About 20 mins from Glencoe we stopped off at a lay-by as the wee yin was a bit peckish. Oh the flexibility you can have in a camper van, just pull into next lay-by and do what needs done no probs…get the wee yin a sandwich out the fridge, pop the kettle on for a coffee, nice and relaxed, no rush. Thirty minutes later we were driving through Rannoch Moor and then the majestic view of Buachaille Etive Mòr (the great herdsman of Etive) opens up before us. Even in this dreich weather its quite a site, as always. A quick pop into the Glencoe Mountain Resort for the wee yin to use the toilet then it was down to the Kings House Hotel to see if any deer were milling about the car park, and right on cue there was a herd of red deer hinds awaiting a wee snack. Unfortunately just as we got there the weather turned quite bad, blowing a gale and hailstones. My dad and daughter decided to wait in the car but I ran out and quickly fed some of the deer a handful of biscuits. In the space of a minute i was drenched and my face was stinging after getting blasted with hailstones, still, the deer were happy 🙂

The main port of call for today was a drive down the Glen Etive road. Its a stunning drive, one way in, one way out, all the way down to the head of Loch Etive. It was the first time my dad had been down this road and he really enjoyed it. There is quite a few famous wee spots down this road, one of them being from an image from a recent James Bond film trailer – Glen Etive in Skyfall

I had to do it, ideally i wanted the wee yin next to me, she was to be M to my 007, but this pic does not relate just how windy it was, she was not for getting out the bongo!

Further on down the road is another famous spot for photographers, the bike shed. A very picturesque scene, a wee rundown shed with an old bike leaning against it. The bike had to be replaced a few years ago as the original, which was standing there for 40 odd years, was stolen. A local photographer stuck another old bike in its place to keep the tradition going.

Its always a great drive down this road no matter the weather, and on this day we seen more deer than i have ever seen before along this road. I already had my 300mm lens on my camera in preparation for plenty of deer shots 🙂

Young stagThat massive rich tea biscuit he’s standing on is lip licking good 🙂I don’t mind these kind of road blocks at all 🙂

At the end of the road we pulled in to the wee car park at the head of Loch Etive and had our lunch in the Bongo. Soup and a sandwich and a coffee / hot chocolate. Still blowing a gale outside but my dad went a wee wander while I cooked up lunch. Needless to say the wee yin stayed put, still happy and having fun but just not getting out in that weather. After lunch we headed back up the road to the A82, not many stops on the way back, just a few to admire the multitude of deer, then a final toilet stop at the mountain resort before heading home. Overall a great day out, the wee yin and the auld yin enjoyed it and Nevis done us proud again. As a new bongo driver I’m still a bit nervous on big drives, and kind of relieved to get home in one piece and with the temperature gauge staying firm in the 11 o’clock position 🙂 Will that ever change though?